So here I am, working like a cable – the style of Jim Carrey. I lose my head because regular job is difficult to find.
There is a little girl working with me. She is a year older than my daughter. As Trump likes to say, a beautiful little girl. She studied to become an architect one day. In the meantime, we are in the field because cable and internet networks are waiting to be built.
She speaks English, Russian and Ukrainian fluent. I find it hard to roll up my head around his choices.
-Vou have been born in freelance. You deserve better.
-I tried a job. This does not work for the self -employed of beginners.
This is where my story begins.
The craziest experience in the history of remote work
It's been 96 months, giving or taking, because I served my accounts on Freelancer.com and Upwork. I was among the 100 best freelancer freelancers when there were “only” 20-meter remote workers riding on this platform. Now there are 80 m and counting. I was one of the best rated freelancers on Upwork, before and after the so-called “Great Fusion” (when Odesk and Elance began their working romance in 2013).
Pride Goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:18
Yeah, proven.
My hypothesis was simple. An experienced five-star freelancer can start from scratch to any platform and succeed. He or she does not need criticism or youngest. From zero to an independent hero, like Robert de Niro (in “heat”, for example).
Thus, do not blame an independent platform, but your distant work attitude that screams for a reform. This is theory. The time has come to put my hypothesis to the test.
If I can do it and do it, my younger colleague should be able to do it too. It is not a question of proving who is right, but that freelance is worth the fight. RIGHT? RIGHT?
Strike the salary of Pay-to-PlayWork
From the first moment, something was off. What happened to a lot of free connections for new moments of freelancer Happy New Upwork?
It is not a fair trade, I refuse to upgrade. There must be a way to play. Ah, here it is.
It is a wrestling. For each of these tasks, I need money, my work honey.
WTF, I'm stuck. It was not in this way at the time. Upwork has closed its doors for the self -employed of beginners. The girl was always right. Let me come back at the beginning of all the beginnings – Freelancer.com.
Little pain, big gain – “the words industry” rises again
Here is a screenshot that I took years ago.
I was one of the 100 best freelancers on freelancer.com. Can I start again?
I had to swallow my pride and make a new independent ride. I waited about a month for my first revolutionary five -star criticism. Then, in less than two weeks, I obtained my third consecutive criticism. The best thing about this, I didn't pay anything for that. The good old freelancer.com always had a free membership option. You know, first you make money, then your independent platform does it. This is how this is supposed to work, since the start of independent time.
While I share this story, I work on my 4th project. With this money, I will invest even more to be checked. Then I will apply to be part of the favorite freelancer program. What is this? Well, it's Top Gun for freelancers. The best projects and customers for the best of the best.
So, is it worth an independent beginner in 2025?
Upwork and freelancer.com are not the only independent platforms, but they are the oldest and largest. I don't know about you, but I'm so bored when I see the so-called “ultimate lists” on X and / or Linkedin where people, who probably did not spend a single day working as freelancers, share platforms without any particular order. He looks so pretty and promising. The catch is that you don't have the complete image.
Do you have to pay to play? Which means, do you have an equitable starting point without investment? What are your money withdrawal options? Are all these independent platforms user-friendly? Can you expect the best customers and projects to come to you? You see, the devil of remote work is in detail; All these lists take aside.
So if you ask me, the new freelancers should first try the old platforms. Guru comes to my mind, in addition to Upwork and Freelancer.com. I called these “independent triumvirate” platforms for a reason. Fiverr is fine, but it is a completely different type of remote work beast. I'm talking about the good independent old independent in a strictly “traditional” way, you know, auctions and projects, not concerts and catalogs.
As you can see, I have lost a lot of weight since I wrote under the name of user “Words Industry”, but I have not lost my independent faith.
In case, if you are wondering what is the best independent platform, my answer has not changed all these years: it is the one on which you earn money. Just as the best publication is that without paying wall, and where you are published despite all the controversies, as long as your claims and conclusions are based on reliable facts and sources.
